The present disclosure generally relates to computer system programming, predictive models and language compilers, interpreters and tools, and more particularly to determining a prioritized list of users related to a given goal.
Information foraging theory is based on optimal foraging theory, a theory of how predators and prey behave in the wild. In the domain of information technology, the predator is the person in need of information and the prey is the information itself. Using concepts such as “patch,” “diet” and “scent,” information foraging theory describes the most likely pages (patches) a web-site user will visit in pursuit of their information need (prey), fore example, by clicking links containing words that are a close match to (smell like) their information need. The scent of information comes from the linguistic relationships between words expressing an information need and words contained in links to web pages.
The present disclosure builds on the concept of information foraging to determine and recommend persons for accomplishing a given goal.